Ohio
Construction and Demolition Debris (C&DD) Landfills
Ohio Construction and Demolition Debris (C&DD) landfills
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) regulates the disposal of construction and demolition debris (C&DD), the material that results from building or demolishing man-made structures. C&DD may go to a municipal solid waste landfill or to a C&DD landfill. A C&DD landfill needs an annual license from the licensing authority, which is the local health department or Ohio EPA.
In a Phase I ESA
C&DD landfills are on the same Ohio EPA licensed facility list as its solid waste landfills. That list is the Ohio form of the state landfill and solid waste disposal site records that ASTM E1527-21 lists as a standard source. The general reading of a landfill listing is on the landfills and solid waste page. Four Ohio details shape how to read a C&DD site.
- The definition is narrow. Ohio EPA says C&DD does not include hazardous waste, infectious waste, or material removed from a structure before demolition, and does not include any other solid waste unless law and rule specifically allow it. C&DD landfills are prohibited from accepting pulverized debris.
- Older facilities had fewer siting limits. For existing facilities the statute sets two criteria: no part of the facility in the 100 year flood plain, and none within a sole source aquifer. Ohio EPA says those do not apply to a facility that was operating before July 24, 1990. New facilities must also keep their disposal limits at least 100 feet from the property line, 500 feet from an occupied dwelling, and 5 feet from the uppermost aquifer, among other setbacks.
- Groundwater at these landfills has been studied. Ohio EPA says it developed a preliminary Hydrogeologic Investigation Report for all licensed C&DD facilities between 2012 and 2019, under a law (Ohio Revised Code 3714.071) that allows a board of health or the director to monitor groundwater at licensed C&DD facilities. Ask for that report when a C&DD landfill is near the property.
- Clean hard fill leaves a notice. Clean hard fill is only concrete, asphalt concrete, brick, block, tile or stone. Anyone using it to change grade on a site other than the one it came from must give the licensing authority a written Notice of Intent to Fill. Where a property has been filled, ask the health department or Ohio EPA whether a notice was filed.
Facilities that process, transfer or recycle C&DD are licensed too. Ohio EPA's rules for standalone C&DD processing facilities, which need a permit-to-install and a license, took effect on April 18, 2022. Its rules for processing facilities located inside a licensed C&DD facility took effect on July 4, 2022.
Where to look a site up
- Ohio EPA's Licensed Solid Waste and C&DD Facilities page carries the Licensed Facility List, filtered by facility type. Ohio EPA says it shows only currently licensed facilities.
- The C&DD Landfills page links Ohio EPA's approved list of health departments.
- The Division of Materials and Waste Management is at 614-644-2621.
Getting the file
Ohio EPA says that in 2021, 65 of Ohio's 113 local health districts were approved to license and inspect C&DD and solid waste facilities, and that Ohio EPA does that work elsewhere. Ask both. For Ohio EPA's records, many are in the agency's eDocument search; for others, use the online file review request form. The pages read do not say how to request a health district's records.
Sources
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency pages, read October 7, 2026, no modified date shown: